Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-11-02
ICINE LODGE. KANSAS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 2 1887
THE DECORATIVE CRAZE.
Frescoes Declared Out OF Style anS
Leather Pronounced Fashionable.

ENCcCOcs DcCkaToO Out Oh Sty10 8nO
Leather Pronounced Fashionable.
Leather, eh:"
"Yes'm."
''You don't mean to tell me it is leath-
err"
"Yes'm."
ats beautiful and will make very
handsome decoration, but / had no idea
that it was leather"
at is leather, madam; and 1 may tell
you, furthermore, that if you order your
rooms to be covered with it you will not
make a mistake. It's the very latest
fashion. It's all the rage. Every body
who pretends to style nowadays must be
in the fashion, and fashion SAYS. that the
halls, walls of dining-rooms and libraries
and back parlors must be covered with
leather"
"Expensive?"
"Yes'm, or it wouldn't be fashionable?"
"How much will it cost for room?"
''That depends upon the size of the room
and the value of the leather used, but in a
general way l may say from $500 to
$1,000"
"Whew!"
That was part of the conversation
overheard in a fashionable decorators
parlor by New York Mail and Express
reporter. A lady had run into town from
Newport to have the decorators go to
work in her house to put it in order for the
winter. She was talking to the gentle
manly and wealthy proprietor, and
he was explaining 10 her the newest
craZe-the use of leather for decoration in
room instead of frescoes After the lady
had or dered a workman to her residence
to make an estimate of the work to be
done the writer fell to talking with the
proprietor. He told what every body
about to begin the winter nuisance of
ouse cleaning and redecorating will be
glad to know, and that is that fresco-
ork, no matter how elaborate and cost
ly, is out of style, and decorated leather
has taken its place
The writer was shown by a dealer an
original Italian frieze of leather in forty
two panels, with borders about three feet
high and a foot and half broad. 1t is a
magnificent piece of art-work. 1t was
painted in the latter part of the seven-
teenth century and was procured by its
present owner from an old palace in
Avignon, France. The paintings tell an
allegorical story of an italian soldiers
life.
Only the finest grades of leather are
used for decorations, and even they must
be unusally well tanned. The decorated
leather is often placed where there is dan
ger of its being wet. 1t must, therefore,
be made imperwious to water, and will
then last many years, and, like
Old wine, improve with age.
Oak bark is, of course, princi-
pally used in tanning. The skins and
hides, as those of larger animals arc
called, are first prepared by washing and
soaking in solution of lime to loosen the
hair and outer membrane. All skins con.
sist of two parts, the CUTS, or true skin,
which is delicate tissue of fibers crossing
each other in all directions and full of lit.
tie conlcal pores, and the cutcle, or outer
coating. This latter is removed, that the
tan may be absorbed on both sides of the
leather. After they are sufficiently lined
the skins are stretched singly on an arched
wooden or stone bench, one end of which
is considerably raised. The hair and cuti-
Gle are then removed with an iron scraper
The skins intended for soft leather are
then immersed in an alkali to withdraw
all the lime, which would make them hard
and stiff. They are then soaked in a di-
luted acid, which swells them and opens
their pores to receive the infusion of tan
more rapidly. They are then piled in
pits, with ground tan between each skin,
and then filed with water. The pits are
emptied and hides replaced with fresh
bark and water about every two or three
months. The time required for tanning
hide of ordinary thickness by this means
Is two years. This appears a long time.
but is the best plan. Other and more ex-
peditious ways can be used, but the result
is not as good.
In decorating the leather the designs are
put on in colors whose composition is kept
secret. The colors are, however, absorb
II. ..,N~. Al
human skin, and in this way becomes a
component part of the leather, which can
not be removed. The design is then
brought into low relief by process called
hand-tooling. In other words, small,
blunt iron tools are beaten into the leather.
thus bringing the pattern out more fully.
Other tools are also used which stamp the
pattern all over, giving it an appearance
peculiar to the treatment. The most ex-
perienced artists are engaged in this
work. By these processes exact reproduc-
tions can be made of all the old STYLES of
leather whose beauty still astonishes the
visitor to some of the monasteries and
churches of the old world. The monks of
the fifteenth century Iwere said to be the
most proficient in the art. The mon
asteries in and about Venice were re-
nowned for the large amount, as well as
the beauty, of this work done by the
monks who inhabited them, and from this
cause the name of Venetian leather was
given this peculiar style.
Venetian leather has red shade which
permeates the entire decoration. And the
1esign almost always is in imitation Of
needlework. The leather thus made was
used for altar cloths and the sanctuary
hangings of the chapels and churches of
the time. Its workmanship is extremely
fine, and the genuine article when il can be
obtained brings fabulous prices. 1t is held
in very great esteem by the churches of
the continent, which, if they are fortunate
enough to possess a piece, will not part
with it at any price. A few years ago
there was a piece exhibited at the Brus-
sells Exhibition. 1t had been loaned by
the Archbishop of Brussels, and was for
merly part of an old altar-screen. The
unmistakable mark of its origin was pres.
ent in the peculiar needlework pattern
spoken of above, and while the piece was
only five feet wide by eight long.
it was valued at $4,000, a fahn-
lous price for a piece of leather. Yet
there were many present who would have
paid more to have secured such a relic of
antiquity. Visitors to the exhibition were.
however, Informed that it was not To he
obtained at any price. Another beauty of
TINS leather IS the accuracy of the details
as well as the general harmony of design,
the whole showing an exquisite delicacy
of effect and sympathy of color.
Another school of leather decoration
was Flemish. This work fourished about
the same time as the Venetian, but is to-
tally different in design and appearance
and resembles more the peculiar STYLE of
the Flemish school of painting. The Cor
dova or Spanish leather Is still another
kind much admired. All the Spanish
leather bears a certain resemblance in
finish TO Morocco or Moorish leather, which
is justly considered the most beautiful in
texture.
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